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WordPress Operations Guide

This document provides WordPress-specific operations, configurations, and troubleshooting for WordPress sites running in Docker behind Traefik on systems-prod-01.

Docker Configuration Best Practices

MariaDB Version Selection

Use MariaDB 10.11 for compatibility with existing WordPress databases
Avoid MariaDB 10.7 - may cause redo log format errors during restoration
MariaDB 10.11 is the recommended LTS version for WordPress

SSL/HTTPS Behind Traefik

Real Simple SSL plugin NOT needed when behind Traefik
Disable Real Simple SSL to avoid redirect loops
Traefik handles all SSL termination automatically
Add proxy detection configuration to wp-config.php (see below)

Proxy Detection Configuration

Add this to your wp-config.php before the "That's all, stop editing!" line:

// Proxy SSL detection for Traefik
if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO']) && $_SERVER['HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO'] === 'https') {
    $_SERVER['HTTPS'] = 'on';
}

Using WP-CLI in Docker

Installing WP-CLI

If WP-CLI is not present in your WordPress container:

docker exec CONTAINER_NAME bash -c 'curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wp-cli/builds/gh-pages/phar/wp-cli.phar && chmod +x wp-cli.phar && mv wp-cli.phar /usr/local/bin/wp'

Common WP-CLI Commands

List plugins:

docker exec CONTAINER_NAME wp --allow-root plugin list

Deactivate a plugin:

docker exec CONTAINER_NAME wp --allow-root plugin deactivate PLUGIN_NAME

# Example: Disable Real Simple SSL
docker exec CONTAINER_NAME wp --allow-root plugin deactivate really-simple-ssl

Update WordPress core:

docker exec CONTAINER_NAME wp --allow-root core update

Check WordPress version:

docker exec CONTAINER_NAME wp --allow-root core version

Database Operations

Quick WordPress URL Change

When switching between temporary and production domains:

# Generic command (change to production domain)
ssh jared@15.204.247.153 "docker exec CONTAINER_DB mysql -u DB_USER -pDB_PASS -e \"
USE DATABASE_NAME;
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = 'https://domain.com' WHERE option_name IN ('siteurl', 'home');
\""

# Verify the change
ssh jared@15.204.247.153 "docker exec CONTAINER_DB mysql -u DB_USER -pDB_PASS -e \"
USE DATABASE_NAME;
SELECT option_name, option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name IN ('siteurl', 'home');
\""

Real Example - BestSolarTech:

# Change to production domain
ssh jared@15.204.247.153 "docker exec bestsolartech_db mysql -u wordpress -pBST_wp2024_secure -e \"
USE bst_wordpress;
UPDATE wp_vuhx_options SET option_value = 'https://bestsolartech.com' WHERE option_name IN ('siteurl', 'home');
\""

# Verify
ssh jared@15.204.247.153 "docker exec bestsolartech_db mysql -u wordpress -pBST_wp2024_secure -e \"
USE bst_wordpress;
SELECT option_name, option_value FROM wp_vuhx_options WHERE option_name IN ('siteurl', 'home');
\""

Database Access with Skip Grant Tables

If you need to reset database passwords or access without credentials:

# Stop the current database container
docker stop SERVICE_db

# Start temporary database with skip-grant-tables
docker run -d --name temp_db \
  -v ~/services/SERVICE/db_data:/var/lib/mysql \
  mariadb:10.11 --skip-grant-tables

# Access the database (no password needed)
docker exec -it temp_db mysql

# After making changes, stop temp container and restart normal one
docker stop temp_db && docker rm temp_db
docker start SERVICE_db

Database Backup

# Backup WordPress database
docker exec CONTAINER_DB mysqldump -u DB_USER -pDB_PASS DATABASE_NAME > backup.sql

# Example: Backup BestSolarTech
docker exec bestsolartech_db mysqldump -u wordpress -pBST_wp2024_secure bst_wordpress > bestsolartech-backup.sql

Database Restore

# Restore from backup
cat backup.sql | docker exec -i CONTAINER_DB mysql -u DB_USER -pDB_PASS DATABASE_NAME

# Example: Restore BestSolarTech
cat bestsolartech-backup.sql | docker exec -i bestsolartech_db mysql -u wordpress -pBST_wp2024_secure bst_wordpress

Troubleshooting

Redirect Loops

Symptom: Browser shows "too many redirects" error Cause: Real Simple SSL plugin conflicting with Traefik SSL termination Solution: Disable Real Simple SSL plugin using WP-CLI (see above)

Database Connection Errors

Symptom: "Error establishing database connection" Cause: Database container not ready or wrong credentials Solution:

Check database container is running: docker ps | grep db
Check database logs: docker logs CONTAINER_DB
Verify credentials in wp-config.php match docker-compose.yml

Mixed Content Warnings

Symptom: HTTPS page loading HTTP resources Cause: Missing proxy detection in wp-config.php Solution: Add proxy detection code (see above)

Migration Checklist

When migrating a WordPress site to systems-prod-01:

Backup WordPress files and database from source
Create service directory: ~/services/SITE_NAME
Create docker-compose.yml with MariaDB 10.11
Add proxy detection code to wp-config.php
Deploy containers with temporary domain
Test HTTPS on temporary domain
Disable Real Simple SSL plugin if present
Update site URLs in database for production domain
Test all functionality (admin panel, forms, etc.)
Update DNS for production cutover
Monitor for 24 hours after migration

WordPress-Specific Docker Compose Template

services:
  wordpress:
    image: wordpress:6.7-apache
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db:3306
      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: wordpress
      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: wordpress
      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    volumes:
      - ./wordpress_data:/var/www/html
    networks:
      - traefik
      - internal
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.SITE.rule=Host(`domain.com`) || Host(`www.domain.com`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.SITE.entrypoints=websecure"
      - "traefik.http.routers.SITE.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"

  db:
    image: mariadb:10.11
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: wordpress
      MYSQL_USER: wordpress
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: '1'
    volumes:
      - ./db_data:/var/lib/mysql
    networks:
      - internal
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 5

networks:
  traefik:
    external: true
  internal:
    external: true

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